Grapefruit League opener: Giancarlo Stanton will bat third Saturday for Marlins

Right fielder Giancarlo Stanton will bat third Saturday in the Marlins’ Grapefruit League opener against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Marlins manager Mike Redmond unveiled his position players today but he said he will unveil his batting order Saturday a few hours before the game.
Juan Pierre will play left field, Gorkys Hernandez center, Placido Polanco third base, Adeiny Hechavarria short, Donavan Solano second base and Joe Mahoney first.

Jeff Mathis will catch. Alfredo Silverio will be the designated hitter.

Stanton can expect plenty of playing time before he leaves the Marlins on March 3 to play for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic.

“I want to get him as many at-bats as I can. We’ve got to get him ready for the classic,” Redmond said.

“He needs to get in there and get as many at-bats as he can to where he feels comfortable so that when he leaves here he will be ready to go.”

RUGGIANO HAS A BACK STRAIN

Justin Ruggiano, who came to camp as the front runner to open the season in center field, has a back strain and the Marlins are not sure how long he will be out.

“It’s always a concern anytime you get a guy that’s banged up early in spring training,” Redmond said.

“Backs can be touchy. Sometimes they just take a little bit of time. We have to make sure that he is healthy and ready to go for the long run and not just for spring training games.”

“We’re not at a point where we need to rush anybody by any means. We’re going to ease him back into playing like LoMo. We’ll just have to wait and see how he feels and how long it takes,” Redmond said.

“We’ll try to mix guys in and out as much as we can and see how it all shakes out.”

Although Yelich and Marisnick are not competing for major league jobs just yet, Redmond still plans to use them as often as he can.

“I want to see those guys play. It’s a great experience for them,” he said.

While playing for the Twins, Redmond remembers how Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire tried to play the team’s minor leaguers in Grapefruit League games.

“And when those guys came to the big leagues and had a chance to make the team, it wasn’t such an ‘awe’ moment for them,” Redmond said.

“The quicker we can get them into a big league atmopstphere, the better off they’re going to be.”